Daily Devotions
Luke
Luke 11:37-54 "THEREFORE THE WISDOM OF GOD ALSO SAID..."
Day 156 – Luke 11
Text: Luke 11:37-54
“THEREFORE THE WISDOM OF GOD ALSO SAID…”
The Pharisees and Scribes saw religion in terms of “external religiosity”. The Lawyers understood religion as a law that could be manipulated to their favour! Jesus rejected these false approaches!
Jesus’ view of the Scriptures is uniquely stated in this passage that we would do well to study carefully…
“Therefore the wisdom of God also said,
‘I will send them prophets and apostles,
And some of them they will kill and persecute,’
That the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required of this generation,
From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
Who perished between the altar and the temple.
Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation!
Luke 11:49-51
The Word of God was NOT just a legal document that you could manipulate! The Word of God represented the “wisdom of God”. The word of God represented the Lord Himself speaking to His people! The word of God was thus not to be trifled with!
THE BLOOD-FILLED HISTORY OF BIBLICAL ISRAEL
As far as Jesus was concerned, the history of Israel was NOT written down somewhere in a dusty scroll hidden and lost, awaiting discovery at a later date. The history of God working in life is LIVING HISTORY!
What a dynamic concept this was! How very new and refreshing! Till today, few understand this concept. Fewer yet believe this concept!
Abel was the first murdered person mentioned in the Scriptures. We read in Genesis these solemn words,
“The voice of your brother’s blood
cries out to Me from the ground…”
Genesis 4:10
It is most significant that Jesus should mention this event at all! He linked the killing of Abel to the killing of the prophet Zechariah. In the mind of Jesus, the blood of all the people had cried out to God for justice and for righteous vengeance!
Many read these events as merely “historical events” that happened a long time ago and had no relevance to the present! That’s not how Jesus read the Scriptures. He saw the Scriptures as dynamic and alive. God was as much in their midst and as deeply involved in the murder of Zechariah, a prophet of old, as He was involved in the murder of Abel!
One day God would exact justice! He would bring to justice those who were guilty of such great sins! No amount of manipulation of the law would get them off the hook! And when would God exact righteous vengeance?
Solemnly, Jesus made this declaration…
“Yes, I say to you,
it shall be required of this generation.”
Luke 11:51
“WOE TO YOU LAWYERS! FOR YOU HAVE TAKEN AWAY THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE…” Luke 11:52
Jesus went on to rebuke the lawyers for the fact that they had access to knowledge, but they did not appreciate the privilege that was theirs…
“Woe to you lawyers!
For you have taken away the key of knowledge.
You did not enter in yourselves,
And those who were entering in you hindered.”
Luke 11:52
What a privilege it was to be given the opportunity to obtain knowledge. However, the lawyers had abused that privilege given to them. They did not use the key of knowledge, quite obviously.
To gain knowledge just to manipulate it is a sure sign of not treating knowledge properly, as far as Jesus was concerned! The lawyers had no use for the kind of knowledge that Jesus displayed! To see the Word of God in the way Jesus saw it would mean that they would have been pronounced guilty! They would have to admit that they had been wrong all along! That would be too much to expect from them!
There was only one way the lawyers interpreted the Scriptures – their way! They would twist and turn the Scriptures in every which way! Jesus reprimanded them for doing this.
They prevented others from obtaining the knowledge that they had themselves rejected! There may have been some who could have become good and astute scholars, but the Lawyers would make sure that nobody could expose them the way they were being dealt with by Jesus!
AN ALL OUT WAR!
The scathing words of Jesus did not go unchallenged! There was no sign of repentance on the part of the Pharisees and Scribes. Their fate was sealed when they resisted the reproaches of Jesus…
“…the Scribes and the Pharisees began to assail Him vehemently,
and to cross-examine Him about many things,
lying in wait for Him, and seeking to catch Him in something
He might say, that they might accuse Him.”
Luke 11:53,54
The die had been cast! It was an all out war against Jesus! What a study of the wickedness of the human heart!